Relocation with 2 kids: Housing and Education

[HannahPM]

Hello, everyone.

I found this site and have been reading many threads and came across useful information.

My husband is offered a job in London with a gross salary of £ 70,000 (no housing allowance). We have 2 kids (5 yr old and 1.5 yr old). We are quite excited about the opportunities, and at the same time, a bit worried how our life will change after the move.

Before we really commit, I am trying to imagine the living conditions in London. And I will greatly appreciate if anyone can give me some advice on which areas we should look our house (or apartment) and on education for my 5 yr old.

1) Looks like my husband’s office is close to Barbican and Old Street Stations. Can anyone recommend some areas to live? We want: a 3 bed room apartment or house, under-30 minutes commute, family friendly, relatively safe, close to grocery stores and parks that the kids can go and play, and good state schools. How much should I expect to spend on housing?

2) We would like to send my son to a good (decent) state school. I have heard that good state schools are very competitive and often hard to get in. Also heard that we need a physical address to enroll a child. Does this mean that we have to wait to move to London and enroll him? What happens if the schools nearby are already full? Is there anything I can do to make sure he gets in a school? Our time for the move is the end of July/early August.

Any advice will be appreciated!
Thank you for your help!!!!

HannahPM

[nyclon]

Originally Posted by HannahPM

Hello, everyone.

I found this site and have been reading many threads and came across useful information.

My husband is offered a job in London with a gross salary of £ 70,000 (no housing allowance). We have 2 kids (5 yr old and 1.5 yr old). We are quite excited about the opportunities, and at the same time, a bit worried how our life will change after the move.

Before we really commit, I am trying to imagine the living conditions in London. And I will greatly appreciate if anyone can give me some advice on which areas we should look our house (or apartment) and on education for my 5 yr old.

1) Looks like my husband’s office is close to Barbican and Old Street Stations. Can anyone recommend some areas to live? We want: a 3 bed room apartment or house, under-30 minutes commute, family friendly, relatively safe, close to grocery stores and parks that the kids can go and play, and good state schools. How much should I expect to spend on housing?

2) We would like to send my son to a good (decent) state school. I have heard that good state schools are very competitive and often hard to get in. Also heard that we need a physical address to enroll a child. Does this mean that we have to wait to move to London and enroll him? What happens if the schools nearby are already full? Is there anything I can do to make sure he gets in a school? Our time for the move is the end of July/early August.

Any advice will be appreciated!
Thank you for your help!!!!

HannahPM

London is 659 square miles just so you know what you're dealing with. The farther away you get from Central London (where your husband's office will be) which is Zone 1 on the tube line the less expensive things become. To be blunt, you will not be able to afford 3 bedrooms in Central London where you can expect to pay £3500/month and upwards. Maybe look at Clapham which is on the Northern Line going into Old Street and about 20-25 minutes. Other than that look for towns along train lines out of Moorgate, Old Street, Liverpool Street and Farringdon. However, you may find yourself needing a car. 3 bedrooms will be less expensive farther out along the tube lines in Zones 2, 3, 4 and 5 but you will have to consider a longer commute.

As far as schools, yes you have to have an address because schools have catchment areas. Yes, good schools fill up. Even if you live next door to the school, there is no guarantee that you will be able to enroll your child. You have to be offered a place in a school, but it will not necessarily be the closest school. There is nothing you can do to guarantee that your child gets into the school of your choice unless you want to pay for private school (called public schools here).

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by nyclon

As far as schools, yes you have to have an address because schools have catchment areas. Yes, good schools fill up. Even if you live next door to the school, there is no guarantee that you will be able to enroll your child. You have to be offered a place in a school, but it will not necessarily be the closest school. There is nothing you can do to guarantee that your child gets into the school of your choice unless you want to pay for private school (called public schools here).

Your younger child still has a few years left till starting school proper. He/she will be 2 by the time you move and will be going to a mothers and toddlers club or playgroup before starting nursery next year at age 3.

For your son, he will either be starting Reception if his last birthday was 1st September or later, or Year 1 if it was before 1st Sep 2011. Most children start with Reception, even though compulsory education doesn't start till Year 1. To be allocated a school place of your choice in London, your application should have reached the council last month, so it's too late for that, and you couldn't have done so without having a definite address. So your only choice is to find out, as soon as you know the location of your home, a school place. You can contact local schools and find out, or you can ask the council for a list of schools with places. If you are Catholic or Anglican/Episopalian, you may get a place at a church school with his baptism certificate and commendatory letter from the clergy. Well worth it, as church schools - still state-sponsored - usually have good reputation and they often try to create a place for a practising family even if they are full. As for finding out which schools meet your requirement, look at Ofsted reports at Ofsted | Home page and primary performance tables at Home - The Department for Education. Or do a search on The Good Schools Guide to choosing a school. Which school? Independent, state, public, private, prep, junior, senior, primary, special, private and public schools and educational and SEN | The Good Schools Guide.

Private, fee-paying schools are usually called private or independent schools, and for your elder son, it's often called pre-prep school. Public school is a name given to some older-established prestigious schools, often boarding, like Eton, Winchester and Westminster. It's called public, misleadingly, because when they were founded, anyone with means to pay could send their sons there (most are boys only), in contrast to other schools which were church-controlled or restricted to sons whose fathers belonged to certain city guilds or livery companies, like Merchant Taylors' School (today a high-achieving private day school near London).

[jlms]

One area in London proper where families with young children live is Clapham, it is full of amenities for mums with small children and close to one of the biggest parks in London (Clapham Common). Neighbouring Balham is becoming gentrified with families that can't afford Clapham, it has a great train connection to Victoria Station, and a tube station in the Northern Line which goes all the way to Moorgate and Old Street directly. The tube (underground) is terribly crowded during rush hour, but since the trip is short (around 25 minutes to Moorgate for the Barbican) people suffer it stoically (or go to work a bit earlier or later to avoid the crowds) or even cycle (my wife, does this).

Balham is in front of Tooting Common, where there are amenities for children and some others you may be interested in (tennis courts, outdoor swimming pool and even an athletics track).

If you live out of London (I know the South East) some old favourites are Surbiton, Woking, Guildford, Walton on Thames, Weybridge, all under 40 minutes commute from central London (Waterloo Station, or changing in Clapham Junction, Victoria Station). I used to live in Woking and work just across the Barbican and my commute was 1hr 10 minutes door to door (I walked to the train station and then back home in the evenings, that saved me the punishing parking charges in the local train station).

Life in Woking & Guildford was frankly dull, if one wants variety of cultural choices (including lots of activities for children) one has to take the 40 min train ride to London.

Everyone here is suggesting Clapham, sorry I don't think Clapham is a nice area at all to live with a Family. Actually you should look in Richmond - one of the wealthiest suburbs but it might be more affordable - at least you will enjoy living there since it is very pretty with houses up on Richmond Hill. Also Richmond has excellent Schools. Some other safe / affordable areas are - Chiswick, Parsons Green and Definitely Barnes - very upscale yet not as expensive and very close to central London. Try to avoid east, south-east and south london - they are the worst areas in my opinion, very dangerous. You may also want to look in Wimbledon - very pretty and full of nice families.

If your husband cannot get a house allowance - at least he should ask the company to give him free car parking at work - get a car and with free parking you will appreciate it a lot, public transport in London is disgusting especially in rush hour, i'd rather be stuck 1 hour in a nice car listening to music than get stuck in the underground with a million people packed into 1 train.

Go to findaproperty.com - the best portal for property searches in UK and again these are the areas I would recommend in order of preference -

Barnes, Richmond upon Thames, Chiswick, Parsons Green, Wimbledon....these are all very pretty "relatively" safe areas of London. East / south East london are more for single / younger / adventurous people - I would never recommend that to a family.

3 Bed terraced house to rent in Steele Road, Chiswick - Ref: 10357748

That's a nice London home perfect for a Family....

Remember - rents are negotiable in London - so always make an offer 20% lower and start from there.

[jlms]

The area around Clapham is called colloquially "Nappy Valley" due to the amount of families that live in the proximity.

The high street is full of shops selling maternity stuff, cookware and coffee shops selling lattes to tired mothers pushing prams.

In other words it is highly gentrified.

One thing UKvisitor forgot to mention is that driving into London sets you back a cool 8 pounds a day due to the congestion charge, and although it is nice that he has a car paid by his company, parking and I suppose congestion tax included, that is a luxury that most companies won't offer (my wife is in 6 figure salary and has no company car and no right to any parking, I have been on and off in similar levels of income and have never been offered this perk, and now we are in a recession after all, also the parking is so restricted that even if companies wanted, can't offer free parking in general terms).

As to how one of the wealthiest areas in London like Richmond can be more affordable, is an exercise of logic left to other members of this board.

All the areas mentioned by UK visitor are expensive in general terms, good if you can afford them, but not realistic for most people.

Also the public transport connections from West London to the Barbican area are limited to train+tube or tube only and take longer than they should, while from Clapham train, tube, train+ tube, and even bus and bicycle are all viable options and you can be in Central London in 10 or 15 minutes, and even a taxi will not fetch you a horrible bill.

I am glad UKvisitor can enjoy a car in London, but for most that is so uneconomical that only a small minority use it regularly, most trips in London will be done in the certainly less than adequate public transport.

As for the broad generalization that South and South East London is all dangerous and horrible, well, lets say that UKvisitor honours his nickname. There are beautiful areas to live there like Blackheath and Purley, but they would be too inconvenient to reach the Barbican area, which is one of the requirements of the person asking the initial question.

One thing one should remember about London is that good areas and so called bad areas neighbour each other, and often one block will have a different character from the one across the street, so more often than not talk about good and bad areas in London is an exercise of futility.

Sorry but the areas you mention - blackheath, purley, etc.. have nice big houses for £500k... and a same size house in Kensington would be perhaps £20 million...or more.. the reason should be quite clear innit? Yes those are pretty areas - but seriously have you seen the drunk people out on the streets after 6 pm? Do you know what kind of schools exist in those areas? Lots of council estates there too so figure it out. I would never even live in Greenwich... maybe I am different but even in my country I never had to deal with such "YOB" drunken behaviour with dangerous aggressive people everywhere - and sadly modern Britain has a lot of that now. I feel safe only living in Knightsbridge, Chelsea or South Kensington and of course Belgravia - and I don't need to pay a congestion charge as it was abolished in most of London except Mayfair and the very central areas...and anyway central London residents get a 90% discount on the charge.... as well as almost free street parking (£200 a year or so). I think it's fair to say that Clapham and Chiswick are the same "cost" of housing almost - I feel Chiswick is just a lot safer even if it is 20 mins farther away from liverpool street.

Anyway - I think the OP Hanna should take a trip to Clapham / East and SE London areas and then go to West London and decide which suits them better. For me I find no appeal in Clapham - it's rather young and trashy...with a lot of Bars and Drunk people... I never even knew that families wanted to live there, maybe because they just haven't discovered better parts of London. You are either a "west" london or "east" london person.....and many times I am surprised when I meet an east londoner - they know nothing about west london nor do they want to know about it...lol.

Oh and I don't do any job in London so no I don't have any free car or parking...lol...I am one of those who lives in London 6 months a year and that's it....can't take it any more than that...and I do pay for everything myself before you assume I am on some benefits...LOL....

Lastly, I don't agree that owning a car in London is uneconomical - compared to other big cities like Paris, New York and even Madrid - owning a car in London is actually the cheapest out of all.... do you know that used cars in UK are cheaper than anywhere else in the world?? Yes even in continental Europe the same used cars would be 3-5 times more expensive than what you pay in UK. You can buy a 5 year old diesel Mercedes under £5000 with warranty - or buy a brand new regular car with payments as low as £150 a month..so how is it uneconomical? Parking at home is free with a resident permit in most areas - and quite easy as well, even in Central London if you are resident there it's very cheap to park on the street, congestion charge is avoidable now as it is in a very small zone and with a diesel car gas is very cheap too... in fact owning a car in London can be cheaper for a family of 4 than taking public transport and being miserable all the time.